Finavera Renewables

By Bryan WalshThursday, Apr. 17, 2008

Finavera

We get power from the wind, the sun, the atom and the stuff that's buried
beneath the Earth. All that we haven't tapped is the ocean  and
Finavera's conquering that final domain. The Canadian company with Irish
roots (hence the name) pioneers projects that harness the power of ocean
waves to generate electricity. Electrical generators, placed on the surface
of the ocean, create power as they rise and fall with the motion of the
ocean  which contains some of the highest energy density of any
potential renewable source. Finavera has planned a 1 megawatt demonstration
plant in Makah Bay, Washington, along with further projects in Canada,
Portugal and South Africa. Wave power may still be in its infancy, but
there's a lot of water  and a lot of coastal cities that could take
advantage of it.